Trump is not going to let go of his Panama Canal dream

By God, I think he means it. Donald Trump really does intend to take control of the Panama Canal if he can, one way or another. He has sent an envoy to Panama City to lay the groundwork and then Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, who knows Latin America better than most, will fly in next week to try and fix some sort of deal. If all fails, who knows what Trump will do next? Right now, the Panamanian president is talking about the number of casualties that his countrymen and women will suffer if Trump sends in the Marines. At this point in time, with two weeks under his belt as president, I wouldn't put it past Trump to threaten military muscle if he doesn't get what he wants. But using force to seize control of the Panama Canal would be so outrageous and so morally repugnant that even Trump would surely hesitate to start killing innocent civilians for the sake of having the canal in his pocket. The special envoy for Latin America has apparently suggested a way out which is for Panaman to allow US commercial shipping and naval vessels to use the canal free of charge. But since about 60 per cent of the traffic is linked to the US, I doubt Panama would be happy with that. So maybe, the Panamanian government might agree to reduce the fees to keep Trump happy. But preparing for war? That surely is madness.